CROWN HEIGHTS — Get ready for more doughnuts, Brooklyn.
In the new year, a doughnut and coffee spot called Elsie’s will open in Crown Heights, serving gluten-free and classic doughnuts from an “old school, concession-style” takeout window on Bergen Street near Rogers Avenue, its owner said.
The idea is to be the new “neighborhood spot,” said owner Jeremy Mustakas, who also runs the nearby coffee shop Crosby Coffee. At Elsie’s, Mustakas plans to serve $2.50 doughnuts inspired by his Italian-American background, including the zeppoles he ate as a kid at Bensonhurst street fairs and flavors beloved by his grandmother, the shop’s namesake.
“The jelly doughnut was really my grandma's favorite,” Mustakas said. “So, we’re stuffing the doughnut with fig jam and then we made a sweet ricotta with mascarpone frosting and we’re putting sunflower honey and almonds on top.”
Elsie’s will have about eight different doughnut flavors, he said, including a dark chocolate ganache and vanilla with honey glaze, both offered gluten-free. The shop will serve coffee from Plowshares, a fair trade coffee roaster from Rockland County, and dairy products from Hudson Valley Creamery.
The shop will do business out of a “super tiny” kitchen and takeout window inside a storefront with large glass windows, allowing customers to watch the bakers work, Mustakas said. He envisions Elsie’s as a “grab-and-go” spot for the “commuter crowd.”
“You show up and for let’s say $5, or under $5, you walk away with a really good cup of coffee and a doughnut — a piece of pastry — that has really good products in it,” he said.
Elsie’s will open in early January, Mustakas said, following the recent opening of the first Brooklyn location of Doughnut Plant on Flatbush Avenue in Prospect Heights. Less than 20 blocks away, Dough runs its popular Bedford-Stuyvesant shop. But Mustakas said he’s not worried about the competition — in fact, he sees a need in Elsie’s immediate neighborhood for what the shop will offer.
“As far as this part of Crown Heights is concerned, there’s a need for coffee and there’s a need for scones and doughnuts. So, we’re really excited about filling that void,” he said.
“We’re really thinking about our five-block radius and so we’re not so worried about everything that’s outside of that.”
Elsie’s will be open at 1031 Bergen St. seven days a week starting at 7 a.m. and closing around 3 or 4 p.m. to start, he said.
News of the opening was first reported by Brownstoner on Thursday.
